Assumptions

My son loves watching American Ninja Warrior.  It is a show where athletes compete to finish a very difficult obstacle course testing their strength, agility, balance, and stamina.   He has watched every episode several times.  He can tell you all about the competitors.  He can tell you the times of those in the lead.  And he is eagerly awaiting the finals to see who will win.  I have to admit that I, too, have become a fan as I watch with him.  I am in awe of these athletes.  I know that the things they are doing are difficult, yet many of them seem to do the tasks with such ease.  Watching them makes me think I can do what they do. 

Intermixed in the competition, the athletes are interviewed.  I enjoy learning about each athlete and the training they endured in order to compete.  All of them have trained for many months.  Some of them have faced physical injuries and surgeries that threatened to end their chances.  Some of them have created parts of the obstacle course in or around their homes in order to train whenever they had free time.  All of them have made some sacrifices.  All of them have had times when they had to push through the pain to continue.  I am so glad for the back stories.  Not only because they are interesting, but they are essential.  You see, without them, it would be easy to watch these athletes and think that they are just naturally gifted and that no real effort was needed for them to succeed.  But that's not true.  

I wish we could get the back stories of people who are doing what we dream of doing.  Without them, we begin to make assumptions.  We assume they are natually gifted or that the task is easy for them.  We assume they have resources or a support system that is unavailable to us.  We assume they didn't really have to make sacrifices or push through rough times.  All our assuming can feed our excuses and make it easy to give up on our dreams.  But the back stories tell us the truth.  It takes work and sacrifice to fulfill our dreams.  It takes dedication and focus.  It takes strength and perseverance when we want to give up.  Pursuing a dream is hard work physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  But as I watch the athletes complete the course and raise their hands in victory, I am reminded that the effort is worth the reward!  Press on!